


Tumblr Poetry

by An_Actual_Rat



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, M/M, Poems, Poetry, Social Media, Tumblr, annabeth and rachel are slightly devious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:26:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26244127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/An_Actual_Rat/pseuds/An_Actual_Rat
Summary: Rachel brings to Percy's attention an account she found on Tumblr that has been writing poetry that sound suspiciously like they are about him. Percy doesn't believe her at first, but is convinced to create his own account to respond back through poetry of his own.
Relationships: Apollo/Percy Jackson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 192





	Tumblr Poetry

“I was scouring the internet the other day,” Rachel said as she was tapping away on her phone, only to be interrupted by Percy.

“Let me guess: Tumblr?” He asked. Annabeth snickered from beside him, and she was immediately elbowed by Rachel for it.

“I- yes, but that doesn’t matter! Anyway, I was scrolling like usual when I happened across this poem somebody posted that I thought described you perfectly, Percy.”

“A poem?” Percy asked. He wasn’t too big on poetry, especially since his dyslexia always made it even harder to interpret than it already was. Annabeth was the smart one who could figure out the meaning of Shakespeare’s words, not so much him. “So?”

“Don’t mind him,” Annabeth said, scooting closer to see Rachel’s phone where she was pulling up the Tumblr post. “He doesn’t appreciate literature like the rest of us. Read us the poem.”

_ “Eyes the color of the sea _

_ That I wish would gaze at me. _

_ To his side I would flee, _

_ If only he would agree.” _

“How exactly does that describe me perfectly?” Percy asked, a confused look on his face. “It didn’t exactly jump out at me and scream ‘Percy!’”

“It’s literally in the first line! ‘Eyes the color of the sea!’” Rachel exclaimed, shoving the phone in his face to show him. Percy squinted at it, but he barely attempted to actually read it, knowing that it would be futile with the way the screen was bouncing around from Rachel’s arm shaking.

“That’s the only description in the entire piece!” Percy retaliated. “Nothing else about it relates back to me. It wasn’t even that long.”

“I still think it’s about you.”

“Oh, so now you think it’s specifically about me? How would that even be possible? You’re my only friend that uses Tumblr!”

“That you know of,” Annabeth said. “I would use it, but I fear social media is just not my thing.”

“You’re on her side?” Percy asked.

“I agree that it is a stretch to say that this poem is definitely about you, but you have also met so many people on your journeys over the years. Any one of them could be taking to the internet to anonymously rant about their feelings towards you via poetry.”

“See?” Rachel smirked. “Annabeth knows what’s up.”

“I don’t know whether I preferred you guys as friends or enemies,” Percy muttered. Despite their rocky start, Annabeth and Rachel eventually began to become close friends. They sure gossiped a lot together, especially when it came to Percy and his love life. It seemed like every time the three of them hung out, they always ended up talking about who he could date or came up with wild theories like this.

“As an oracle, I say that this poem is about you!” Rachel said.

“I refuse to believe it until green mist comes out of your mouth and spells it out clearly,” Percy said.

“That can be arranged.”

“Are there any more poems on this person’s blog?” Annabeth asked. “Maybe there are more clues as to whether or not Percy is the subject of this person’s affections.”

Percy shook his head in disbelief. He knew for sure that he was not the one this poem was describing. The chances of it were very slim, and he didn’t have to be a child of Athena to know that! He really hoped Annabeth was just messing with him and not actually taking Rachel’s side.

“I didn’t even think to look!” Rachel said. “Let me see.”

She clicked on the user’s profile in order to take a look at their blog. Their handle was “SunnyBoi,” which gave Percy no hints as to who this person was. He figured that even if it did give a big hint towards the person, he wouldn’t know because he knew for sure he would not know this person in real life.

“Woah, they not only have more poems, but they’ve also reblogged some stuff from other accounts that remind me of Percy!” Rachel grinned. Annabeth leaned in to see as well, and the two of them spent a moment scrolling and laughing at some of the posts.

“What?” Percy asked. “I want to know what they posted.”

“They reblogged a lot of posts about the ocean and beaches,” Annabeth said. “Some of them have quotes with them talking about finding love by the water and stuff like that.”

“So they love the sea. Big deal.”

“They also have a strange obsession with sunlight,” Rachel said. “Like, an unhealthy obsession.”

Annabeth got a thoughtful look on her face, which Percy did not like because that face only ever brought trouble for him. She shared a look with Rachel, but she did not seem to catch on to whatever she was thinking. Rachel was too busy going through her goldmine of material to tease Percy with (no matter how wrong she was about this whole thing).

“Here’s another poem,” Rachel said, clearing her voice. “It’s called ‘An Ode to a Right Arm.”

“Excuse me?” Percy asked.

“ _ Muscles as strong as an ox, _

_ Movements so thought out and clever. _

_ Raised in the air, it blocks _

_ The attacks that won’t hit him, never. _

_ His grip is loose yet effective _

_ On that sword as unique as him. _

_ Even when his strike is deflected _

_ That power of his doesn’t dim. _

_ Oh, right arm of the man I so love, _

_ You never leave my mind to be bored. _

_ If only the person I speak of _

_ Knew I love when he fights with his sword.” _

“Percy, there is no way you can deny that this sounds just like you,” Annabeth said.

Percy groaned. “That could be describing any swordsman! It could be a knight! A cosplayer! Even another demigod!”

“You’re right handed,” Rachel pointed out.

“So are many other people in this world.”

“These are definitely about Percy,” Annabeth said, “and I think I know exactly who is writing them too.”

“What? I need some more solid proof than a few mere coincidences,” Percy said.

“Coincidences?” Rachel questioned.

“The sword, eye color, and love towards water? A big coincidence.”

“Read the next post,” Annabeth, who had still been glancing at the phone, told Rachel. Rachel skimmed the words of the poem in her head for a second before she bursted out in laughter.

“I can’t believe it!” Rachel howled in her cackles, Annabeth soon joining in.

“What is it?” Percy asked, suddenly worried. What could have made them react like that?”

“Listen to these,” Rachel said before she began reading the next post.

“ _ Olympus hero _

_ Could kick my butt anyday _

_ I adore him so _

_ He is in my dreams _

_ Sea green eyes stare into mine _

_ Wish it were real life _

_ Son of Poseidon _

_ Fancy waterbender name _

_ Dreamy demigod” _

“I’ve never seen somebody this disgustingly lovesick before,” Annabeth said. 

“Were… were those haikus?” Percy asked, a baffled look on his face.

“Yup!” Rachel grinned. “Pretty bad, weren’t they? Remind you of somebody?”

“A certain god of poetry, perhaps?” Annabeth asked. 

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” Percy said. Could it be true? Were they right this entire time? But there was no way somebody was that into him, much less a god! “This has to be a joke. Is somebody pranking me?”

“No, this definitely has to be Apollo,” Rachel said, “I can feel it.”

“So what do I do?”

The three of them thought for a moment before Annabeth had a brilliant idea.

“I know it’s bad for demigods to use technology, but Percy will have to risk it for this. Percy, you need to answer him through Tumblr.”

“Answer him?” Percy asked.

“Well, you like him too, right?”

“What makes you think that?!”

“I know you! Anyway, you can’t just call him up and tell him you feel the same, especially since he hasn’t been openly admitting it to your face. No, you need to make a Tumblr account and start posting poems about your love for him. Get his attention. Make him come to you.”

“I don’t-” Percy began, but he was cut off by both girls glaring at him. He sighed in defeat. He couldn’t hide anything from them. “Fine. I’ll need help writing poems, though. I’m not good at writing that stuff.”

“Let’s get started then.”

...

Annabeth decided that they needed to come up with a plan to get Percy’s blog popular enough that it would eventually catch Apollo’s attention. Luckily for them, Rachel had become Tumblr famous with the “fake” stories and scenarios she wrote up. People thought she was a really creative fictional writer. In reality, she was just writing about what her and her friends had been through so far. No mortal knew the difference.

They set up Percy’s blog. Percy wanted to go with a cool name like “Vaporizer” or even something like “Sea Mist,” but the other two vetoed that. 

“You have to make it similar to Apollo’s to make it more obvious that it’s responding to him,” Rachel said.

“Isn’t OceanMan close enough?” Percy asked.

“I could always just give you something like WetPants if you don’t cooperate.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“You know full well that I would.”

“How about WaterBoi?” Annabeth asked. 

“At least make it OceanBoi,” Percy said. “I should get some say in this. It is my account, after all.”

“Alright,” Annabeth agreed, “that seems fair enough. OceanBoi would be obvious enough, I think.”

“I agree,” Rachel said. She typed it into her phone. She finished setting everything else up before showing them what she had created. “I will go ahead and make it so that you are following me, but I think you shouldn’t immediately follow Apollo’s account. We want him to find you on his own.”

“Okay,” Percy said. “So now what? We write a poem and post it?”

“Yup!” Rachel said. “You’ll tell us what you like about Apollo, and Annabeth and I will help you write the perfect poem to post.”

“Can’t you just write something real quick without me?”

“That takes away the fun,” Annabeth said.

“Takes away  _ your _ fun,” Percy muttered.

Annabeth and Rachel made Percy tell them all about what he liked about Apollo. They made sure he gave them as much information as possible, claiming that they had to know everything in order to be able to thoroughly think through these poems. Percy knew they were full of it. They didn’t need to know this much. He played along, though, because he was suuuuuch a great friend. 

“Alright, here’s what we’ve got,” Annabeth said once she and Rachel constructed the first poem.

_ “Tan skin _

_ Toasted by the sun _

_ like a fire _

_ The fire of my desire _

_ As I stare at your _

_ sun toasted skin. _

_ Tan skin _

_ Caressed by the summer _

_ on bright days _

_ Bright love in my heart _

_ As I stare at your _

_ summer blessed skin. _

_ Tan skin _

_ Dusted by the light _

_ it smiles _

_ Smiles constant on my face _

_ As I stare at your _

_ light darkened skin.” _

“I’m fairly certain nobody would ever believe that I wrote that myself,” Percy said once they were finished reading the poem out loud.

“You’re trying to woe him with poetry,” Annabeth said, “so the poetry should be good.”

“He’s going to immediately know I wasn’t the one to write it if he ever figures out what we are doing. If I am trying to ‘woe him’ like you say, shouldn’t it at least sound like something I could possibly manage to write with some luck? This sounds too good of a poem to be something I could do.”

“I don’t know whether to be flattered by that compliment or offended that you won’t just go with it,” Rachel said, causing the three of them to chuckle a little bit. “I think it’ll be fine to post. If he confronts you for it not being you who actually wrote it, you can always confess that you wanted it to be perfect so you asked for help. He would find that romantic for sure.”

Percy gave in. “Fine. We’ll see how this goes.”

Rachel uploaded it onto his new account. She opened the post by saying he was a new poet who wanted to share his work online for the internet to read. She added the poem, some hashtags, and proceeded to post it. 

“What now?” Percy asked.

“Now we wait a little bit before I reblog it to my blog with high praise so that more people will flock to your account for more poetry,” Rachel said. “Once that happens, we upload another poem and a claim that you were surprised to get so popular so fast and that you appreciate everybody. When people see how nice and grateful you are, they will be more likely to follow you and reblog your posts.”

“We’ll meet again in a few days to create the second post,” Annabeth said. “In the meantime, Percy can come up with some more subjects about Apollo that we can use as material for the poems.”

...

“Wait, how many followers do I have now?” Percy asked.

“2000!” Rachel said. “And soon you’ll have more once you post more and I keep advertising your account. I’m sure Apollo will notice your account very soon.”

“Speaking of Apollo,” Annabeth said, “has he posted anything else lately?”

“Yeah, I saved the latest poem that he posted to show you guys.”

Rachel pulled up the poem and read it out loud.

_ “The things I wish I could do to one hero, _

_ Could never be put into proper words. _

_ I can proclaim my desires to hold him at night, _

_ But my heart still wants more than I can bear. _

_ A strong, independent demi-mortal, _

_ One I wish to keep with me forever. _

_ I’d give up so much to be with him, _

_ That hero for whom my heart belongs.” _

“That was sickeningly sappy,” Annabeth said.

“I don’t know guys,” Percy said, suddenly hesitant. “It sounds like he’s pretty taken with me for some reason, but you know how the gods are. They fall for a mortal or similar for a short while, seduce them, and then leave them. They cheat all the time, and he’s a dad of many of my friends for crying out loud! What if I shouldn’t be trying to do this. He’s just going to hurt me in the end. I’m looking for more than a one night stand.”

“Don’t worry, Percy,” Rachel said. “I’m his Oracle, and I can vouch that he will treat you better than you think a god would. I haven’t talked to him about you, of course, but every now and then he gets in a real depressed mood and will come to rant to me about how he wants to finally get married to somebody. And after all of that he’s suddenly spouting poetry about you? I’m sorry, Percy, but you might have to take the gods up on their gift of immortality soon so you can marry Apollo. As for the cheating thing, that’s something you and him would have to discuss once you’re a couple.”

“What makes you so sure he would want to marry me? He could just as well sleep with me once before moving on to a new lover who he could later marry.”

“Just trust me.”

Percy wasn’t sure he should trust her, but they had already started this scheme, and he was certain there was nothing he could do to stop the girls from posting anymore poems for him. He would have to see how this turned out. He just hoped that it would be positive for him in the end. 

“Are you ready to write the next poem?” Annabeth asked. Percy sighed, but he nodded.

More and more poems got posted onto both blogs on Tumblr for the next two weeks. Apollo seemed to be going through a phase of inspiration because he was posting multiple times a day sometimes. Annabeth and Rachel both helped Percy write more poems to post, and it got to the point that he was posting every other day. He gained thousands of followers, all of which were very invested in finding out who his poems were about and wanted them to work out. It wasn’t until those two weeks went by that something finally happened.

Percy and Annabeth were hanging out with Rachel in her cave. Rachel was scrolling through her phone when she suddenly perked up.

“Guys! Somebody tagged Apollo’s account on Percy’s last post!” Rachel exclaimed.

“What?” Annabeth said. “Did they say anything else?”

“They tagged him and jokingly asked if this was the hero he was always posting about. Jokes on them, they are correct.”

“Has Apollo seen it yet?” Percy asked.

“Not as far as I can see… wait, oh. He just commented on the post,” Rachel said.

“He did?!” Percy’s eyes widened. “What does it say? Did he figure out it was me?”

Rachel just handed him the phone, telling him that he better be the one to handle the situation. He was confused for a moment before he saw what the comment said.

“It’s a freaking haiku,” Percy said.

“Read it out loud!” Annabeth grinned.

_ “I see you found me _

_ But I know those aren’t your words _

_ Fight me you coward.” _

“Is he challenging me?” Percy asked. “I’m confused.”

“No,” Annabeth said. “He wants you to respond to him yourself. He knows that you weren’t the one writing those poems.”

“Do you know how to write a haiku?” Rachel asked.

“I could write some bad ones probably,” Percy said.

“Then you should respond to his comment with your own haiku.”

Percy glanced back down at the phone, unsure of what he wanted to do. Was he ready to move forward with this plan and actually talk to Apollo? Could he really do this?

Yes. Yes he could.

_ OceanBoi: _

_ I am the coward? _

_ I recall you posting here _

_ But not telling me. _

Apollo’s reply was almost instant.

_ SunnyBoi: _

_ I was inspired _

_ Poetry comes naturally _

_ Couldn’t help myself. _

_ OceanBoi: _

_ Do you mean it all? _

_ Am I really that special _

_ Or is this a joke? _

_ SunnyBoi: _

_ I am serious _

_ Love hates me, but you make me _

_ Want to try again. _

“Percy!” Annabeth said. “You two need to have a proper conversation to talk through your feelings. It’s time to move on to real life. Step away from social media.”

“Yes, mom,” Percy rolled his eyes.

_ OceanBoi: _

_ No more bad poems _

_ I want to talk in person _

_ Want to pick me up? _

For a moment, nothing happened. There was no reply, no god appearing in the room to swoop him away, nothing. The three of them sat in silence, waiting to see what would happen next.

Apollo replied one last time.

_ SunnyBoi: _

_ I believe it’s time _

_ Your wish is at my command _

_ Brace yourself right now _

The moment he read the last line out loud to his friends, Percy was suddenly gone from their sight. Rachel’s phone went with him, making her annoyed. She better be getting that phone back or Percy was going to pay.

Percy had no idea where he was. He appeared to be in some kind of bedroom, but it was not one that he had ever been in before. It was very… bright in there. The walls were painted yellow, the bed had orange and red covers to it, and the curtains on the window were drawn to let in sunlight. On the bed lounged a grinning man: Apollo.

“Is this supposed to be your room?” Percy asked, turning towards the god. He still had Rachel’s phone in his hand, so he shoved it into his pocket. “Do gods even need bedrooms?”

“I enjoy sitting back and relaxing every now and then,” Apollo told him. “I created this room just for that. It’s the perfect place to get that much needed vitamin D.”

“Will I need sunscreen?” Percy asked. Apollo laughed at the question, but Percy thought it was a perfectly valid concern. 

“Do not be silly. Yes, the sun might be plentiful here, but I am still the one in control. You will not be burned unless I will it, which would frankly ruin any fun of our meeting. So, no, you shall not need sunscreen.”

Normally, this kind of conversation would cause Percy to laugh too, but his nerves were acting up too much for him to find humor in Apollo’s words. He was too anxious about what they were going to be talking about. 

“Lord Apollo,” Percy said, “you really meant what you said in your poems? Do you really feel that way about me?”

“Why, of course!” Apollo said, getting up from the bed to approach the demigod. “What man would I be if I could resist such a strong, handsome hero, huh? Perseus Jackson, I’d say you make my heart swoon!”

“Seriously?” Percy questioned the dramatics. Apollo just kept grinning at him. He was standing right in front of him now.

“Seriously,” Apollo confirmed.

“But I’m not a god, and I don’t want to be some fling to you like mortals are.”

Apollo scoffed. “You know we could grant you immortality whenever you wished. You may have turned it down before, but the gods still view you highly, and if you agree to marry me, it would only help your case.”

“M-Marry?!” Percy choked. Rachel had warned him about that, but he was still not fully prepared to hear those words come out of Apollo’s mouth.

“I want to keep you, Percy.”

Percy could feel his cheeks getting red. “But what about affairs? No offense, but I don’t want to marry somebody who is going to cheat on me.”

Apollo cupped the demigod’s cheek. “I swear upon the River Styx that I will not cheat on you, Perceus jackson. I do not need petty affairs like my family does when I have you. If they pressure me into having more kids, we can find a way without me cheating on you.”

And Percy believed him. He leaned forward to catch the sun god’s lips with his own. It was only a brief kiss, one which Percy pulled away from a few seconds later, but it lingered on both of their lips as Apollo rested his forehead against the other’s.

“So you’ll marry me?” Apollo asked.

Percy smiled, taking Apollo’s hands in his. “Yes.”

...

_ SunnyBoi: _

_ It started with a poem- _

_ a poem kept in secret, _

_ kept in fear- _

_ And ended with this boy- _

_ a boy I hold so close _

_ hold so dear- _

_ As mine. _


End file.
